Aussies Online August: Andy McLEOD Leads The Way

Posted at 13:11 2009-09-04

Australian players owned the virtual felt in August featuring prominently in the vast majority of major events held throughout the month.

The success for the month was headlined by three major results featuring James “Andy McLEOD” Obst, Jarod “shawry5” Shawcross, and little known Victorian player “wizfromoz”. Obst took down both the biggest score and highest earning Australian marks for the month.

His biggest score came with a fifth place finish in the Full Tilt Poker FTOPS XIII Main Event. Obst earned US$127,000 in that tournament and extended his run of masterful results in that series.

Obst also became the highest earning Australian in the month with a win in a $55 rebuy on PokerStars that grabbed him another US$35,137. All up Obst made US$169,094 in August, his month consisting of one victory, two final tables and just eleven cashes to earn that huge amount.

Western Australian Jarod “shawry5” Shawcross pulled off a stunner a week after Obst’s finish in the FTOPS Main Event. Shawcross pulled out all the stops in the PokerStars Sunday Million and fell just short of becoming Australia’s third ever winner of the Internet’s marquee weekly major. In the end Shawcross finished in third place and earned US$120,000.

FTOPS success wasn’t limited to “Andy McLEOD” with “wizfromoz” working his magic to win event 23 at the FTOPS. The Victorian bested a field of 1,107 players to capture the title in the $109 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha event. For his efforts he took home an FTOPS bracelet along with US$78,900.

The wiz joins Aaron “azzabentonaces” Benton as a little known Australian to make their mark at the now bi-monthly FTOPS events.

Australian’s also got down to the grind with self-described mid-stakes grinder “kenn121” earning a 100k month with volume play. Australia’s newly second ranked player had a biggest cash for the month of a modest US$21,676. He backed it up with consistency in results though picking up three five-figure results amongst his eight wins, 27 final tables, and 96 money finishes.

The Australian top ten took a bit of a shake-up this month with “kenn121” moving into second place, and he also finally broke into the world top 100, currently sitting 94th in the world.

Kenn121 is joined by Jay “SEABEAST” Kinkade (21st) and James “Andy McLEOD” Obst (77th) as Australia’s three current members of the world top 100. “SEABEAST” stays number one in Australia where he has been since February. “ANDY McLEOD” moves into third in Australia, ahead of Steve “stevoL” Leonard who has dropped to fourth.

September sees the biggest online event of the year taking place with the World Championship of Online Poker kicking off on Friday, September 4. Australians will be keen to grab their fair share of glory in the 45 WCOOP events at PokerStars. PokerNetwork will be sure to keep you updated with the all action.

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